and is a former aide to john kerry told politico that kerry and george w. bush never spoke to one another after john kerry conceded the election. joining me now, pulitzer prize winning columnist for "the washington post" and msnbc analyst eugene erickson. and we have all -- i won't speak for you. i have -- i have more than once, i think, said we will keep in touch, let's keep in touch, to someone i did not then keep in touch with. i don't think i've ever been as phony about it, though, as these two guys today promising to stay in touch with each other after lunch. >> yeah. it was probably -- i've heard some people say the most awkward conversation mitt romney has had since his last conversation. you know, for what it's worth, like, i don't think that either of them really want to stay in touch. i mean, the whole thing was a sill symbolic gesture and i think we can say it is a classy move to do this. it is something that is -- it's -- even if it's purely symbolic, sometimes we need the symbolism. sometimes we need to say, especially after thanksgiving, when